| Developer's Notes |
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| This document contains developer's notes on
this software project. Some of it's technical and may not be easy reading. It may
even be boring. But I feel it's worth documenting because it gives insight on my thoughts and plans for this
software product. |
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| Started Project |
| I started this project in late March 0f 2006, but
in my mind I started long before then. I spent many months prior to that
researching PDA devices and operating systems. I finally decided to
purchase a PalmOne Tungsten E2 PDA device and started trying to figure out
what made it tick. After awhile I realized that I could export data out of
ProServe II using the ExportEASY Utility and then import into the Palm
Desktop. This allow me to synchronize contact information to the PDA. Wow!
this got me excited. So I ordered a very inexpensive PalmOne Developer
Tools CD. It finally came in so I quickly install it just to find out it
would take me years to learn how to use it and develop a PDA application. |
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| After several days I started researching
again and remembered a conversation I had with a customer several years
earlier. He had mentioned a software program that allow you to develop PDA
apps. So I pulled his account up and I had made note of the name of that
program in his memo field. Pendragon! So I quickly searched the
internet and found them, downloaded a 14 day trial and within a few hours
realized that I could actually do this. Praise GOD for Pendragon
Software Corp. I'm not sure if there's any other software programs out
there that's as good as this one is, but I stopped researching and started
coding. I recommend these guys to anyone looking to develop PDA
applications, here's a link
http://www.pendragon-software.com. |
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| My Main Goals for the 1st Release |
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Be able to download work
orders to a PDA device so they could be processed and then be
synchronized back into ProServe II.
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Keep the PDA
application simple, the actual program that runs on the PDA
device. Allow basic posting features that's currently available in
ProServe II. payment, notes, supplies and service units. Basic fields
like phone, contact, routes, tech etc...
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Keep the Interface
program simple, the interface between ProServe II and the
Synchronization files.
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Make it easy to obtain,
install and use by creating an excellent Reference Guide.
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Keep the end user price
reasonable.
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| Getting Started |
| It wasn't hard getting started because I had
finally reach a point that I had committed myself and my company to this
project. So I made the announcement on my website and posted a release
date of 07/01/2006.. Just to keep me motivated. |
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| Last Minute add-ons |
| After coding out the Interface and the PDA
application, right before starting the Installation phase. I decided to
add another PDA form, Contacts. I thought it would be nice for
smaller companies to have access to every customer account on there PDA
device. But at that point I was really cutting it close to the release
date and still had much more to do. So I decided not to allow changes to
the Contacts form, only allow viewing. After all the Contacts form was not
a main goal for the 1st release. |
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| Installation Program |
| Yes, we have to spend many hours putting together
installation procedures. This program is no exception, in fact it was very
time consuming. It's not exactly what I wanted, but it's turned out to be
the best for the end user when it comes to installing the PDA device
application. If Pocket PC or Palm device, thanks Pendragon. It has to
install in two stages and the 2nd stage depends on the user leaving the
Lunch program checked on when ending the 1st stage. If end user follows
the installation documentation it will install wonderfully. |
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| Documentation |
| Wow, I have to say and I hope you agree, that the
Reference Guide turned out nice. But I do find that a large number of
users out there don't spend a lot of time reading manuals or user guides.
They seem to find it easier to call and ask a simple question that has
already been answered in the documentation. Documenting software products
can be as time consuming as coding the programs themselves. I hope I'm
getting better at it. |
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| Thoughts on Final Product before release |
| I feel very good about this product and I'm
getting excited about it's release. It has turned out very nice and I
believe it's going to make life allot easier for small one man operations.
Not that it won't work for larger companies, it will and is designed to do
so. |
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| Future |
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The
Pendragon Forms Distribution Toolbox that I'm using to develop PDA
applications has features that I haven't even touch yet. The script
language is certainly capable of much more, especially for Palm OS devices.
Like beaming, scanning and printing. I'm going to stop there until I'm
sure of other features. But I'm very confident that I'll be upgrading this
utility as time goes on. I'll listen to and gather thoughts from you, the
users on what that may be. |
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07/04/2006 |
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